1. Technical Field
Embodiments herein are related to the field of integrated circuit implementation, and more particularly to the implementation of memory power management.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computing systems may include one or more systems-on-a-chip (SoC), which may integrate a number of different functions, such as, graphics processing, onto a single integrated circuit. A computing system may include memory, either as a part of the SoC, or as a separate die from the SoC and coupled by a memory controller. Various memories may be included, one or more on the die with the SoC and one or more separate to the SoC. Memories may be a significant part of the power consumption of a computing system, so for portable computing systems, such as, for example, laptops, smartphones, and tablets, it may be desirable to reduce the power consumption of one or more memories in the computing system.
A memory array may include numerous sub-blocks, such as, e.g., memory arrays, control circuits and decoders. Address decoders may be used to activate a specific row(s) and/or column(s) which, in turn, select memory cell(s) corresponding to a given address. A larger memory array may require an address decoder with multiple stages in order to decode an address to select a given row and column. Some memory arrays may have a large number of rows and/or columns, which require a corresponding number of row and column driver circuits. In such cases additional stages of address decoding may be needed, resulting in considerable power consumption. In large address decoders, such as described above, only a small proportion of the circuits may be required to select a given row or column responsive to receiving an address, leaving many circuits in the address decoder unused. Such unused circuits may provide an opportunity to reduce leakage power consumption.
Therefore, a new address decoder design is desired that may make more efficient use of the included circuits. Such an address decoder design must not negatively impact performance or dramatically increase the size of the circuits.